Ashes to Ashes - The Perfect Love
Chapter 1
Hot, sweltering summer nights were certainly not as enjoyable nor comfortable as Alex Drake had preferably liked them to be. Not surprisingly, Gene who hadn't had the best of days himself, was behaving more grumpy and argumentative than ever. She was very much able to read the telling signs and vibes, with regards to his body language, especially after he thoughtfully reminded her of how she ought to respect her duties as a DI now and again. - Clearly he wasn't best pleased with her, after observing her sleeping on the job three days on the run, from the comfort of his office.
"Don't piss me around Bolls, you do what you can to follow the likes of Ray does best in here." He gave a rather angered and scrutinizing look as he spoke to her.
She shared her thoughts with him. Honestly, she didn't know what other possible explanation, she could provide him with.
"What? by sitting on my backside for most of every morning and smoking like a chimney. Look Gene I'm sorry if I've disappointed you lately, I really am. I haven't slept much over the last couple of nights, perhaps it's just that I am restless."
She soon found herself, observing his body language again - more closely than ever. He seemed particularly distracted, as something serious was playing on his mind. Not one to ignore her greatest instincts for too long, she quickly decided to get to the bottom of this curious matter.
"It's not good enough Bolly because I need my best DI's knowledge of Psychology bollocks on hand, in case some bloody fairy arse, I've arrested thinks he can run rings around the Gene Genie." Understandably Gene felt somewhat determined to stay one step ahead, in the campaign to protect the streets of Fenchurch from bullying and violent tosspots.
"I know and like I've told you, I'm sorry Gene. Perhaps I need to reassess one or two important matters in my life right now and hopefully I can rediscover what makes me a good detective." She soon willingly accepted the fact that she was clearly feeling stressed and that she had betrayed her Psychology skills, simply by sitting back and allowing Gene to take the lead during a recent witness interview.
"Promise me one thing Alex, don't stop boring the bloody socks off me, don't stop waggling your fingers and wiggling that fine arse of yours, in my direction." Gene was now behaving rather strangely and this concerned the female detective - was he worried about the drastic changes, which the station had surprisingly undergone in the last 12 months.
As a matter of fact the truth was, Gene felt thrown and confused after receiving a letter from his ex-wife - who was she asking if they could get together sometime and have a catch up, if he might be fine with her coming down to visit him in London, in next two weeks. He knew her far too better than any other blokes, to know she would pull off a sympathetic stunt, in a bid to weave her way back into his life again.
"Of course I won't. I'm not going anywhere." She knew she had unashamedly lied through her teeth, in a kindhearted bid to revitalize the good natured side of him, she preferred to see so often.
"That's good to know, Bolly. My ex-wife wants to see me and I didn't want you to turn against me, you know if I chose to meet with her. I know you'd be bloody telling me, she'll only end up breaking my heart." Within a matter of moments, he then blurted out everything in front of her, about the letter from his ex.
"So this finally explains, why you've been venting your frustrations out at the team. So what's your gut feeling telling you to do right now, let her down gently or give her another chance?" believed that, getting herself involved in his business potentially wasn't such a good thing to do at that certain moment.
Gene perched forward in his chair - legs stretched out magnificently in full view of Alex's eyes, despite the look of uncertainty and sadness written in his eyes. The man she cared so dearly for, looked in need of some reassuring words and a hug after that.
"Well, I'm not welcoming her back with opening arms, as far as I'm concerned. That woman cheated on me, with a freckled face milkman. You know Bolls, I haven't told Raymondo or Christopher this before, I got the randy bastard sacked by having his milk float wheels done in." He informed her, which literally left her feeling surprised, to say the least. Yet she knew, she couldn't blame him for his angry actions against his ex-wife's lover as she felt she'd have exacted the same sort of revenge as Gene did, if she suddenly found herself in his situation.
"Well, I think you're doing the right thing. Wonder why she wanted to see you anyway?" Alex asked, soon she wished she hadn't as Gene might no doubt start to suspect she was having strong feelings for him.
"I hope I am. That woman's got less common sense than a woodpecker and she's got a gob the size of the Eiffel Tower, I can tell you Bolly." Ringing her up would obviously leave her thinking, a long-awaited reunion was certainly on the cards between the both of them, so he couldn't consider that certain option.
Once he caught a glimpse of her giggling at the remark he'd just clarified about, he felt extremely grateful to Alex for showing her support to him than the likes of Ray or Chris, who both hadn't raised an eyebrow over why he wasn't behaving like his typical self.
The two detectives shared a stifling look between each other, for the odd moment, longer than they expected to, before Alex quietly left him alone in his office - clearly to ponder and assign wherever his greatest interests and priorities strongly needed to be most of all.
xxx
Later on that day, roughly around 3pm, Alex had chosen to pay Gene another visit and soon she was left puzzled once she'd discovered he had made himself scarce from his office. What on earth was he bloody playing at? she started to wonder.
She stepped away from the see-through glass door of Gene's office and momentarily glanced over her right shoulder, her eyes were casually and carefully darting from place to another, some of her fellow detectives - checking to see who was busy working and who was looking too laid back.
When she acknowledged, Ray wasn't frankly bothered in doing much work during the afternoon in CID, she seized the chance to approach him and raised the question, as to the actual whereabouts of their DCI.
"Ray, you don't happen to know, where Gene's disappeared to, do you? Because I wanted to speak to him over an important matter." She asked the tired looking detective.
"No, don't tell me you two have had another falling out?" Whenever Alex or Gene had the predictable habit of asking Ray where the other was, the Detective Inspector therefore came to the unconfirmed conclusion, perhaps his colleagues had dished out their frustrations at each other.
"Well I wouldn't say we've fallen out, I...No it doesn't matter." She didn't wish to bore him, by explaining in full detail, why she needed to talk to Gene alone.
Shaz decided to reassuringly put her friend's mind at ease once and for all that afternoon, by telling her when she last remembered seeing The Guv in the station. However, her words were soon enough in the making of doing the opposite effect.
"Ma'am I saw him in the corridor, just after lunch. He was holding a creased letter in his hand, the Guv didn't even shout at me when I asked him if he was feeling okay."
"I knew it, he's bloody lied to me, that obnoxious bloody man. Why do I keep believing him because all he's good at is being a lying bastard" She fumed with understandable annoyance, once she realized he hadn't actually been entirely honest with her.
"Oi, what's got into you today Alex, you've been badmouthing The Guv all day. So, he might sometimes behave like a right misery sod but he gets his job of running this station, done properly. " Ray said, as he promptly jumped to conclusions and backed his friend up right away.
"It's nothing Ray, it's something that requires I and Gene to sort out between ourselves." She felt the team should remain kept in the dark for the time being, with regards to the many troubles Gene was being forced to face with the ex Mrs Hunt.
"She's right Ray, The Guv doesn't always seem to appreciate all the hard effort, DI Drake contributes to the cases we get sometimes. I don't see why any of us should stick up for him, especially if he's moaning and telling us to do our jobs properly." Shaz felt more than happy to - address certain matters in and out of the CID office, as she saw them from her point of view.
"Might as well I have known, the birds will always stick together when times get tough." Ray jokingly suggested, his remark didn't seem to impress the two women whatsoever.
Alex felt restless and disappointed, well her body language clearly told the story - so much so, she couldn't let her mind curiously speculate over where Gene had possibly gone to any longer. - She hoped he wasn't meeting up with his ex at Luigi's, no too obvious or meeting up with her at one of the local pubs, well maybe this was a possibility. As both of her eyes started to become somewhat tired, Alex wasn't letting this spoil her determination, as she aimed to find out just what sort of game he was playing with himself.
Hopefully, he wasn't on the brink of making one of the biggest mistakes of his life, which he might regret later on in his life - giving the woman who cheated on him, another chance.
xxx
Gene had arranged a meeting with his former wife, at a nearby fish and chip shop around the corner from the station.
Paula, his ex, looked considerably well for her age and her appearance was far from being potential housewife material. It was also a telling observation, from the looks of her body language that she was impressively capable of putting up a fight against anyone who dared to criticize her. She certainly seemed rather determined to right a few wrongs as she chatted with her former husband.
"Well this is cosy Gene. So, tell me... is this your way of saying, you want the both of us to try again - by you grabbing hold of my and then us having a shag in your precious car."
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly into all this shagging a bird business anymore. What is it you want Paula, a second chance for you to show me, you've given up your knicker dropping act?"
"You know what I want...you. Look I behaved like a moody cow to you Gene, when we were married and know it was wrong of me to throw our marriage away, by pouncing at the first gorgeous bloke I set my eyes on, when you first started taking your job at work seriously."
"It's too late Paula, if you must know I've moved on with my life here in Fenchurch. Maybe you should consider getting on with the rest of your life as well love."
The former couple remained blissfully unaware of the fact, they were now being closely watched by Alex - who was standing across the road, staring over at the disappointing sight of the man she cared so deeply for, allowing the woman who'd made his life such a misery by cheating on him, when he needed her the most after Sam had died.
She had all the proof she needed that Gene was just as much of a pathetic liar than any random bloke had the habit of being, especially after a one night stand. Yet, as she continued trying not to get too upset over what she was witnessing, what she thought was happening was, in all honesty as far away from the truth than she first assumed.
She walked away - with sadness registered on her face and as she began to feel teary eyed, she swore she wouldn't trust him again, with any stories he told her.
"You don't get it do you Paula. I don't feel the same about you, as you do about me. So come on, do yourself a favor love and go back to Manchester pronto-tonto before you embarrass yourself even more." He was annoyed and quite frankly sick of hearing her desperate attempts of walking back into his life.
"Gene, please" She cried, begging him to reconsider what he was now telling her. "I know you love me deep down in that big heart of yours, darling, but you just too scared to admit it." She suddenly cupped her cheeks with both hands as her eyes fluttered, gazing admiringly into his.
"We can make this work between us. Don't feel you've got to bury all your feelings under the sand, you're better than this, you're so much better than this. You've got a brave and strong heart Gene, I know it and you know it. So do you want us to give our relationship another try" She smiled tenderly, proving she wasn't giving up without a fight in getting him back.
Gene couldn't find the right words to respond with after his eyes piercingly glanced upward and met her sparkling gaze. Well, he knew for sure she would stop at nothing to get inside his head with her thought provoking words, this left him wishing he hadn't shown her, the weakness he usually had when women tried to worm their way into his affections and win over his sympathy.
"Come on, at least tell me what you're thinking" Surely he didn't need require much else to consider, besides there was obviously nothing down here in London for him, other than Ray and Chris. Oh, if certain looks were capable enough of telling the bigger picture, well studying her ex's expressed looks should be prove easier said than done for her.
As a matter of fact, the actual truth was, he couldn't think properly, what with the countless various thoughts presently racing through his mind. Once he had taken a moment or two to reassess his feelings, Gene finally came to a decision over where his heart truly belonged.
End of Chapter
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